Horse Abuse in the Professional Show Industry

Horse Abuse in the Professional Show Industry

In the professional show industry today, professional riders and trainers alike are abusing their horses in an attempt to further their training and aid them later on in their careers. Most equestrians wouldn’t admit to abusing their horse -and most of them wouldn’t even think to- but if you had a way to make it to the top with a little extra help from training devices, wouldn’t you use them?

The equestrian world has many different disciplines. Western pleasure, reining, show jumping, cross country, dressage, etc, etc. creates something for everyone. While most of these disciplines revolve around the same principles, they are all different in their own ways.

Riding horses is no piece of cake, and anyone who does would agree. With an 1,800 pound animal -with a mind of its own, might I mention- as your partner, it is no surprise that riding horses is considered the most dangerous sport in the world.

“Riding a horse is 20 times more dangerous than riding a motorcycle,” says horsecollaborative.com. “The average annual deaths caused by traumatic injury is eight in football and 60 in horseback riding. 60 percent of riding fatalities are caused by head injuries, and 20 percent of riding injuries are head injuries.”

In that case, training aids and techniques can be used for the safety of riders (and often the horses) as well. These devices, such as bungy cords, are gentle on the horse and easy to use while keeping the horse collected and the rider safer from the horse’s bad behavior. However, if used incorrectly, training devices can also cause great pain and suffering to the horse as well.

In all disciplines, abuse from the misuse of training devices in horseback riding is common both inside and outside of the professional world. Often times many of these methods are banned due to the injuries caused in the horses, but unfortunately, they are still being used.

Even some of the best Olympic riders in the world have been caught abusing their horses, in hopes to further their training and skill. The controversy over many of these methods has exposed numerous top-notch riders.

Overall, the use of different training methods and techniques in and out of the show circuit have been proven to aid the horse and rider in training, while also providing an added measure of safety. These methods, however, can be used in forms of abuse towards the horses, thus creating much controversy on the subject.